proudfather01

I just purchased an old IBM Aptiva that has Win 95 on it for my son, but he would like me to update it with Win 98SE so that he will be able to use some of the Instant Messenger services. I am not very computer literate, but know the basics. I would appreciate greatly if someone could talk me through the basics of wiping the drive clean, then installing the Win 98SE. Thank you for your help in advance.

Proud Father

elf

Print these instructions out, or write them down as they will be gone once you format. A pre-warning, repartitioning and formating your harddrive, will remove all data from the drive, and it will be unrecoverable. All commands that you need to type have been made bold for clarity.

Create a windows 98 bootdisk, you can download one HERE, when prompted just run it from its current location (no need to save it to hard drive because you will be formatting soon), make sure you have a floppy disk in your drive, and it will format your floppy, and save system, and useful files to it.

How to partition your drive:
Reboot your computer, and it should load up into DOS, when you get there, it should say "A:\>"
type fdisk, and then press ENTER.

You might receive the following message:
Your computer has a disk larger than 512 MB. This version of Windows includes improved support for large disks, resulting in more efficient use of disk space on large drives, and allowing disks over 2 GB to be formatted as a single drive. press Y and then press ENTER

After you press ENTER, the following Fdisk Options menu is displayed:
1. Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive
2. Set active partition
3. Delete partition or Logical DOS Drive
4. Display partition information
5. Change current fixed disk drive
Note that option 5 is available only if you have two physical hard disks in the computer.

Press 3, to delete your current partition, follow the instructions on the screen, until your partition is deleted. You should go back to the first menu

Press 1 to select the Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive menu option, and then press ENTER. Then press 1 to select the Create Primary DOS Partition menu option, and then press ENTER.

After you press ENTER, you receive the following message:
Do you wish to use the maximum available size for primary DOS partition?
After you receive this message, use one of the following methods, depending on the file system that you selected.

Press Y, and then press ENTER. (unless you want to make smaller partitions, usually for the more advanced user)

Press ESC, and then press ESC to quit the Fdisk tool and return to a command prompt.

How to format the partition:
After you create the partitions, you must format the partitions:

When a command prompt is displayed, type format c: /s, and then press ENTER. This command transfers the system files and should only be used when you format drive C (or your "active" drive).

When you successfully run the Format.com tool, you receive the following message:
WARNING, ALL DATA ON NON-REMOVABLE DISK DRIVE C: WILL BE LOST!
Proceed with Format? Press Y, and then press ENTER to format drive C.

After the format procedure is finished, you receive the following message:
Volume label (11 characters, ENTER for none)?
NOTE: This is an optional feature that you can use to type a name for the drive. You can either type an 11-character name for the drive, or you can leave it blank by pressing ENTER.

How to Install Windows 98
After you partition and format your hard disk, you can install Windows 98:

Insert the Windows 98 Startup disk in the floppy disk drive, and then restart your computer.

When the Windows 98 Startup menu is displayed, choose the Start computer with CD-ROM support option, and then press ENTER.

If CD-ROM support is provided by the generic drivers on the Startup disk, you receive one of the following messages, where X is the drive letter that is assigned to your CD-ROM drive:
Drive X: = Driver MSCD001

Drive X: = Driver OEMCD001
NOTE: If your CD-ROM drive is not available after you boot from the Windows 98 Startup disk, install the CD-ROM drivers that are included with your CD-ROM drive. For information about how to obtain and install the most current driver for your CD-ROM drive, view the documentation that is included with your device, or contact your hardware manufacturer.

Insert the Windows 98 CD-ROM in the CD-ROM drive, type the following command at a command prompt, and then press ENTER
X:\setup, where X is the drive letter that is assigned to your CD-ROM drive.

When you receive the following message, press ENTER, and then follow the instructions on the screen to complete the Setup procedure:
"Please wait while the Setup initializes. Setup is now going to perform a routine check on your system. To continue press Enter. "

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ASK BEFORE PROCEEDING!

caLeBBBTEmp

If you want someone to walk you through it live then you can contact me through AIM (AOL Instant Messenger). My screen name is caLeBBBTEmp.

You will need a Windows 98 SE disk and a Windows 98 SE Startup disk. The only way I know of to make a startup disk (if you don't already have one) is to have access to a Windows 98 system.

On the Windows 98 system perform the following procedure:

Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs

In the window Add/Remove Programs click the tab Startup Disk and then click the button Create Disk.

It will prompt you to insert a floppy. Do this and then click OK and wait for it to finish.

If you don't have access to a Windows 98 system I already have a startup disk created. I've never done it before but I think I could send you the files from it and all you would need to do is copy them to a blank floppy.

Edit: I was posting while elf was posting it seems. Downloading the file that he specified and using it on a floppy will work as the startup disk.

proudfather01

Computer Had More Problems So I Returned It.